FIGURE SKATING; Rivals Agree Kerrigan Rates Olympic Spot

The top finishers in the women's short program at the United States Figure Skating Championships said tonight that they would accept any decision placing Nancy Kerrigan on the Olympic team, even though she withdrew from the competition today after being assaulted on Thursday.

Tonya Harding of Portland, Ore., who is seeking to make her second Olympic team, won the short program today. Nicole Bobek of Chicago finished second, and Michelle Kwan, the 13-year-old world junior champion from Los Angeles, took third. Elaine Zayak of Paramus, N.J., the 1982 world champion, finished a satisfying fourth in her return to amateur skating.

Saturday night's long program will account for two-thirds of the total scoring. Two spots are available for American women on the Olympic team, but one of those spots is likely to be awarded to Kerrigan. It's Win or Watch

A bylaw of the United States Figure Skating Association would allow a contestant to be placed on the Olympic team even if the skater hasn't competed in the national championships. A decision by the international committee of the U.S.F.S.A. will be made Saturday night after the long program.

If Kerrigan is placed on the Olympic team -- likely on the condition that her bruised knee heal sufficiently by late January -- only Saturday's winner would also be chosen to represent the United States at the Winter Games, which begin Feb. 12 in Lillehammer, Norway. The second-place finisher here would likely be named as an alternate, and would replace Kerrigan if she didn't recover.

"It's not my decision to make," Harding said. "If they decided not to take me, I'd accept that."

Bobek agreed. "Nancy's been in this much longer than I've been," she said.

Kerrigan was attacked at Cobo Hall after a practice on Thursday by a man who clubbed her right knee with an object resembling a pipe or a crowbar or a stick. The assailant has not been apprehended. Kerrigan withdrew from the competition today because swelling in the knee made it impossible to skate. Zayak Is Satisfied

"I think we'd accept graciously if they send Nancy," said Kathy Casey, who coaches Kerrigan. "She's paid her dues, she's come back strong this year. If they choose to do that, I think we'll probably have our strongest team."

"What happened was no fault of Nancy's," said Frank Carroll, who coaches Kwan. "It's a tragic thing. It might be more tragic to discard her if she is capable of going and skating well."

Zayak said she would also abide by any decision of the international committee if she finished second. "I'm here to have fun; I'm just happy to be in the position I'm in," she said. Seles Sympathizes

Monica Seles, the tennis star, has not played a competitive match since she was stabbed on April 30 by a man who wanted her to drop in the ranking.

Through her management firm, the International Management Group in Cleveland, Seles released a statement about the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

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"Crimes against us are more public but no more tragic than what happens to too many innocent victims today," Seles said. "My thoughts are with Nancy, and I sympathize with the shock and horror she and other victims of senseless crimes experience." 2 More Dropouts

Kerrigan's withdrawal because of injury was not the only one today. The defending ice dance champions, Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur, dropped out because of Roca's broken wrist.

Roca was injured during practice Wednesday when she collided with another couple and fractured a bone in her left wrist. The couple skated in the original dance about one hour after a cast was placed on her arm, and they stood second heading into tonight's free dance.

But the limited mobility in her hand and a lack of flexibility forced their withdrawal.

For Roca and Sur, this has been a disappointing season of unfulfilled national expectations. Sur defected from the former Soviet Union

four years ago, had been unable to secure accelerated citizenship and so the pair was not eligible to compete in the Olympics.

The husband and wife pair of Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow won the ice-dancing competition and the lone spot on the Olympic team. -------------------- TORVILL AND DEAN DOMINATE

SHEFFIELD, England, Jan. 7 (AP) -- It was sultry and sensuous, and as usual, it drew high praise from the judges.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, skating their first amateur competition in nearly 10 years, wowed everyone with a dynamic rumba in the original dance tonight at the British Ice Dance Championships.

Picking the slowest beat allowed under the rules to set the mood, the pair spun and weaved with seemingly little effort to music titled "The History of Love." The routine earned eight 5.9's for composition and four perfect 6.0's for presentation as the couple continued to dominate a lopsided competition.

In the compulsory rounds, the pair waltzed into the early lead and increased it with a near-flawless blues routine that drew marks of 5.6 and 5.7, plus one 5.9.

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A version of this article appears in print on January 8, 1994, on Page 1001035 of the National edition with the headline: FIGURE SKATING; Rivals Agree Kerrigan Rates Olympic Spot. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe